Time to stop the Chihuahua foolishness

August 2, 2013

This is going to tick many of you off, but I can no longer abide this foolishness over where a cute Chihuahua dog is going to live.

People involved directly — the Dave Watson family and the Keith Blanton family — have spent months and thousands of dollars to determine where this dog will live. It disappeared from the Blanton home accidentally and showed up at the Watson’s looking for a meal.

The Watsons kept it for four months before the Blantons discovered her. The Watsons refuse to return her. At that point losing a dog becomes a sad event for either family.

Now it is going national?

Now conservative talk radio host Mike Gallagher is going to ride in and save Pickens County from injustice?

Now people all across the nation are going to give thousands of dollars to pay a lawyer to get the dog back to the family that lost her?

Hello people!

There are hungry children in Pickens and Anderson counties.

No, this has turned into a battle of ego and — perhaps for Gallagher – a battle for listeners and ratings.

One guy writing on Gallagher’s Facebook Page said, “Where I live, we’d just go over and take the dog back.” That is not something we’d recommend.

There have been accusations that the dog was abused by the former possessors, the Blanton family. There have been ugly calls for the Watsons to right a wrong done to the Blantons.

I discern no decent evidence that going forward anything more awful will happen to the dog than going – or staying – in a safe warm place with plenty of food.

The Watsons have been characterized as evil, that is an actual quote from a Facebook Page. However, at one point, the Watsons were likely lauded for taking in a tiny, hungry creature – one of God’s creations.

We are fooling ourselves with misdirected righteous indignation. We are playing games.

There are a hundred better things to do with our time, money and energy.

There are other dogs in and out of shelters right now.

Children are hungry, right now.

Children will be cold this winter.

Families need jobs.

Women need to get out of abusive relationships.

Children need to get out of abusive relationships.

People suffer horrible, debilitating illness and need a cure or at least a caring visit.

People suffer horrible, debilitating addictions that accentuate, hunger, joblessness and abuse to hundreds if not thousands of people right here in Pickens and Anderson counties.